Poor Man's Son - 16. Chapter 15

July 19, 2000

Claremont, OH

Gathan

We were sitting in Wally and Clara’s living room waiting for the limousine to come pick us up, and if it weren’t for Kristin, it would be really weird. She was amazing, the way she chatted Ma up, talking about all the stupid-ass knick knacks around the living room. I watched as Kristin turned the charm first on Ma, then on Pa, which wasn’t really that hard, since she was so smoking hot any dude would be charmed by her. Still, even her charm couldn’t stop Ma from giving us strange looks.

“I’m excited to see my dad,” Darius said, a propos of nothing. “He said that Grand has colon cancer.”

“JP has colon cancer?” I asked, really upset.

“Yeah, but don’t tell anyone,” Darius added quickly. “He says he’s getting an operation to remove it when he gets back.”

“Why’s he travelling to France if he’s sick?” Wally asked.

“He doesn’t need to have it done, like, right now,” Darius said. “So he wants to go hang out with everyone before he goes under the knife.”

“Dude, under the knife?” I asked, shaking my head.

“Oh I’m sorry,” he said, rolling his eyes at my sensitivity. “Be surgified.”

“Surgified?” I asked, chuckling.

“You boys are being crass,” Ma scolded. “It’s not funny.” Darius had learned not to argue with her about stupid stuff like that, so he kept his mouth shut.

Zach came ambling into the room in his cocky, casual way. “Have fun in Paris,” he said sarcastically.

“Don’t worry. We will,” I replied, being just as big of a smartass.

“I wonder why Stefan and Brad fly you all over the place,” Zach said. I could tell by his expression that he was trying to stir up trouble. “Maybe you provide valuable services.”

That really pissed me off, his implication that I was fucking those guys, because it made me sound like a whore, and because Kristin was here and heard that. “You’re an asshole,” I said. I moved on him menacingly.

“You watch your mouth, and don’t you even think of harming my son!” Clara said, and the whole dynamic in the room changed. It was like I was suddenly in an entirely different place. Clara had always thought of us, of me and Ella, as her kids. We’d been part of the family. Lately, we’d been moving away from her and Wally as we got ready to move to California, and as we were the lucky beneficiaries of Robbie’s largesse. I didn’t realize how far that gulf had become until now, where she clearly indicated that Zach was her son, as opposed to an interloper like me.

We all stood there, freaking out over her slip, and even Zach looked concerned that he’d pushed things too far, but that faded fast enough, the little shit. I sensed that this could get really ugly, and I didn’t want that. “I’m sorry, Ma,” I said, playing it off. “I think I’m going to take my bag and wait outside. It’s a nice night. Want to join me?” I asked Kristin.

“Sure,” she said, and smiled at me.

“I’ll see you in a couple of weeks,” I said to Ma and Pa. They really didn’t say anything; they just gave me nice hugs. The damage had been done, and there was no putting the genie back in the bottle.

Kristin and I went out front and sat on the porch. Wally and Clara had a big glider swing there, so we sat there and just rocked for a minute. “Are you OK?” she asked me.

“I’ll be fine,” I said reassuringly.

“What was that all about?”

“I’ve always been another son to her. In there, she just announced that I wasn’t anymore,” I told her. She put her arm around me lovingly, and it wasn’t the same as having Clara there as my mother, but it made it hurt less.

“She loves you.”

“I know she does. Just not as much,” I answered. At least that’s how I saw it.

“Besides,” she said with a smile, “you were right. Zach is an asshole.” We laughed together, and then I kissed her lovingly.

“Ever since Robbie and everyone else came into our lives, El and I have been moving away from them,” I told her, referring to Wally and Clara. “I think they’re having a hard time dealing with the cool stuff we get, and the things we get to do.”

“You’re moving into a different world,” she said sagely. “You’re going to change.”

“What if I don’t want to change?” I demanded.

“You don’t like your new life?” she asked, tilting her head. “Seems I wasn’t really in the old one.”

“Right,” I said, giving her a dirty look. “It’s all about you.”

“Duh,” she joked. “I’m obviously your first girlfriend, otherwise you’d already know that.”

“So you’ve decided you’re my official girlfriend?” I asked her.

“I have,” she said, and leaned in to kiss me again.

“Cool,” I said, winking at her. The car drove up and we got up to go greet them. JP was the first one out.

“Good evening,” JP said formally. “It has been a long time since I’ve seen you,” he said to Kristin. I’d always admired JP’s blond hair, but it wasn’t until that moment, in the summer evening sun, that I noticed how his hair and Kristin’s were the exact same color and texture.

“It has. I’m all grown up now,” she said, flirting with him.

“You certainly are,” he said nervously.

“I’m Brad Schluter,” Brad said, as he emerged from behind JP. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” she said. Brad smiled and looked down briefly. I was cracking up at how she was managing to flirt with these guys, and even though they were gay, they were acting like high school hetero kids when they met her.

Robbie was next, and he didn’t stand for these formal greetings. He pulled me into a monster hug before he even said anything. I felt so safe and so loved when he did that. It was really restorative after the incident with Wally and Clara. “It’s good to see you.”

“Ditto,” I teased.

“What’s wrong?” he asked me. He picked up on my moods so quickly it was a little scary.

“It’s nothing really. I’ll tell you later. This is Kristin.”

Robbie looked at her and raised his eyebrows. “How did you snag such a beautiful young woman?” he asked me.

“I’m hot,” I joked. Kristin rolled her eyes at me.

“Well aren’t you charming,” she said to him. “I’m glad you’re going to Paris with us.”

“Yeah, only he’s not,” I said. “He’s a big pussy. He’s afraid of the French.”

“Well you spend some time in a French jail and see how you feel about it,” he said indignantly. I saw Brad watching us and shaking his head.

“I thought you gay men liked jail?” Kristin joked.

“Only in the pornos,” Brad said, joining the conversation. We walked up the path to the house, joined by John. I stayed back to welcome him.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” he said, and smiled at me. This kid was drop-dead gorgeous.

“You excited to spend your birthday in Paris?” I asked. He eyed me nervously, which made sense, since I’d fucked around with his boyfriend.

“Yeah. Should be the bomb.”

“This is Kristin Hendrickson,” I said, introducing Kristin as she dropped back to join us.

“John Hobart,” he said formally as he shook her hand. It was funny to see this ultra-cool kid suddenly change into his formal businessman mode.

“You’re adorable,” she said to him, blasting his formal businessman persona all to hell and turning him into a blushing adolescent.

“Uh, thanks,” he stammered nervously.

Things were still a little tense inside, but JP and Brad, with their amazing manners and charm, smoothed things over. Robbie was too busy catching up with Darius to pay much attention to them.

“Hey John,” Zach said to him.

“Zach,” John said coldly.

“You wanna come down and play some video games?” Zach asked, raising his eyebrow. What a slut.

“Not this time,” John said dismissively. “We’re leaving pretty soon.”

“Wanna help me load this stuff into the limo?” I asked him. I winked at Kristin, and she took the hint and left us alone.

“Sure,” he said.

We walked outside and grabbed my bag, but the limo driver took it from my hands before I was halfway down the path to the car. “That was easy,” I said to John. “You OK?”

“Yeah. Whenever I see him, I think of how bad I fucked up.”

“Dude, get over it. It’s done, and you and Will are cool now.”

“I’m not like Will. He says he’s only going to be with me, and that’s it. I’m worried I’m some big fucking slut. I’m tempted all the time.”

I laughed. “Dude, you’re what, 13? You’re supposed to be horny all the time. You think it’s bad now, wait until you’re 17.”

“Fuck,” he said. “So what do I do?”

“Jack off a lot. I’ll watch,” I said, flirting.

He smiled at me. “Sweet,” he said, and winked.

“You ready to go?” Brad asked. Of course he’d be all type-A about this and keep us on schedule.

“In a minute.” I went in and said a quick goodbye to Wally and Clara, leaving the big elephant in the room without addressing it, and then led Kristin out to the limo.

“Dude, what the fuck was that all about?” Darius asked me when we were all seated in the limo.

“They just disowned us,” Ella said sadly.

“What happened?” Robbie asked nervously.

“They didn’t disown us,” I said to Ella firmly. “We’ve been moving away from them, and they still love us, they just don’t think of us as their kids anymore.”

“It still sucks,” she said. JP was staring at us intently, his green eyes piercing into my soul.

“What?” I asked him. He got all flustered, having been busted staring at me like that and that made me feel guilty for putting him on the spot. “You’re looking at me lustfully, JP.”

Everyone cracked up, except JP, who blushed furiously, which made them laugh even harder. “I would think you would be used to that,” he finally said. He was so graceful.

“You ever had a threesome with an older guy?” I asked Kristin playfully.

“Not yet,” she said, and winked at him, making everyone laugh all over again. Still, something had been bothering him, but I decided I’d get it out of him later.

“So how long you in town for?” I asked Robbie.

“Yeah, Pop,” Darius said. “When’s the pussy express leave for LA?” Robbie glared at Darius, but everyone ignored him.

“You guys make it sound like it’s no big deal, what happened to me back there,” he said indignantly.

“Personally, I’m glad you’re not going,” Brad said. “Look at these gorgeous people I’m going to be surrounded by. Besides, if you started this up with Stef, he might push you off the roof of the condo.”

“Very funny,” he said. Brad raised an eyebrow at him and gave him that look that said he loved him anyway, and it was so cool to see Robbie melt, and shoot us all that grin.

“See,” John said. “That’s the one.”

“What?” I asked.

“Will and I were trying to decide who had the sexiest dad. I said Robbie would win because of that grin,” John said. “So hot.”

“I don’t know,” Kristin said, eying Brad.

“Pop’s hotter than Dad when he grins,” Darius agreed. “Besides,” he said to Kristin playfully, “he’s straighter.”

“He is not,” Brad said firmly.

Robbie looked around the car, stared out the window, and then looked around the car again. We pulled up to the plane and he got out first, which was unusual since he would have normally let JP exit ahead of him. We watched as he climbed the stairs of the plane with purpose and vanished inside. “This could be interesting,” Brad said.

We all filed out of the car and into the plane, finding seats to relax in, all the while staring at Robbie. “I’m going,” he said firmly.

“Sometimes it is good to face your demons,” JP observed. Brad leaned in and kissed Robbie, then whispered something in his ear while making a strange shape with his hand. Robbie got really flustered then, but in a good way. He was blushing and grinning, and his pants were tenting big time.

Kristin got into the spirit of things and walked right up to them and looked down at Robbie’s lap. “So you’re the straighter one?” she flirted. We were still laughing as the plane took off.

 

July 19, 2000

Paris, France

Will

Stef and I were eating dinner at Maxims, which was just a little too fancy for me, but I hid that and just enjoyed the conversation.

“You seemed to enjoy shopping today,” he said to me.

“You mean because normally I’m miserable when we do that?” I teased.

He pretended to pout. “I do the things you want to do. Is it unreasonable for you to do the things I want to do?”

“Nope, that’s why I was so pleasant,” I said, smiling at him. “Thanks for the new clothes. That suit looks good on me.”

“You think so?” He was giving me shit. “So do I.”

“You must be excited to see JP.”

“I think you are perhaps more excited to see John,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Perhaps,” I agreed. The waiter brought our entrees. Mine was some chicken dish, what my friends would call chicken-bullshit, but it was damn good.

“Why are you nervous?” he asked me, sensing my mood.

“I love him so much,” I told Stef. “What if something goes wrong?”

“You mean like it has with Zach?” I nodded. “I think it probably will.”

“What?” I asked him, stunned.

“Do you want me to tell you the truth, or do you want me to just tell you things that will make you feel good? I can do either.” It was amazing how he just removed emotions from the conversation.

“I want the truth,” I said, and wondered if it was a lie.

“You are going to be 14 soon, and John turns 13 in a few days.” He must have seen my scowl. “Do not get all defensive and accuse me of being patronizing. I have made no judgments, I am merely stating facts.”

“Alright,” I relented. “I got it.”

“You have not even had butt sex yet,” he teased, making me blush. “You have not had sex with a woman yet, and I am going to bet that John has not either. You have not experienced much at all yet.”

“So,” I said adamantly. “I love him. Isn’t that enough?”

He sighed and leaned back, contemplating me carefully. “It is enough when you are in your 20s. Maybe it is enough when you are 18 or 19. It is not enough at your age.”

“Maybe we’re different,” I groused.

“No, you seem to be the same to me. You are thinking with your heart, and not your brain.” He ate some of his food and took a break from our conversation to rave about the meal. “I want you to think about something.”

“What?” I asked.

“I want you to ask yourself if you think you have found your true love at this age.” He paused to let me ponder that, and held up his hand to stop me from answering. So I thought about it, and decided that I probably had. “And now, answer this. How do you know?”

“Because I love him.”

“But you have loved no one else. You will be separated for long periods of time. You will both be exploring this world, figuring out what you want to do, and who you want to be.”

“So we shouldn’t be together?” I asked him, confused.

“No, I did not say that. I am saying that you should be aware that there will probably be times in the future when you will not be together as a couple.” He looked at me carefully. “It is something you must learn on your own, not something I can tell you, which is why this is so hard for you to understand.”

“Because I’m young,” I groused. That again.

“That is exactly why. But the reason I raise this issue is because you cannot have a messy breakup or relationship with John. You do not have the freedom to do that as you would with others.”

“Why not?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.

“Because you are cousins, and any conflicts you have will reverberate through the family. You and John must be mindful of that.”

“We had problems before, and it didn’t cause major issues,” I said.

“I watched that situation weigh on your father, your aunt, and on JP. Robbie and Jack were oblivious, but that is to be expected,” he joked.

“Dad was just mad because he didn’t know why we were pissed off,” I said.

“With your father, that was certainly a big part of it,” he said with a smile. “There is also the fact that he loves you and was genuinely worried about you.”

“Now you’re just trying to make me feel guilty,” I said.

“Only you can make you feel guilty,” he said, smiling. “But it was difficult for him when he interacted with Claire, and it was difficult for JP when he had to deal with either one of them.”

This was pretty much the same thing that Dad had said, and I’d gotten the point then, so I tried to lighten things up. “But not for you?”

“No. I am unwilling to let the libidinous lives of young teenage relatives impact my life,” he said airily.

“It would appear that you do,” I said to him.

He just shook his head. “And what shall we do now that we have finished dinner?”

“Have dessert,” I said.

“I do not eat dessert. I would rather skip that, and still be able to devour men.” He moved his hands, gesturing to his slim, lithe body.

“I can do both,” I teased. “Let’s go through the tunnel at night and see who we meet.”

He kind of freaked out at that, as if I were serious. “And how would that fit into your relationship with John?”

“You’re right. Boyfriends are a pain in the ass.”

“We already talked about that, and how to minimize the pain,” he said. We were laughing as we left Maxims, laughter which got us strange looks until they recognized Stef.

      

July 20, 2000

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

Gathan

We’d had a blast on the plane: my sides hurt from laughing so much. I was in a really good mood, because I was enjoying myself, and because Kristin fit in with everyone else so seamlessly. It occurred to me that this was her heritage, her socio-economic caste, and even though she hadn’t ridden in Gulfstream jets before, this world wasn’t new to her like it was to me. We’d landed in Iceland for fuel, and after we’d taken off, everyone pretty much settled down to get some sleep. Kristin was talking to Ella about some new dress they’d seen in Vogue. I caught Darius’ eye and we bailed on them and moved up to hang out with Brad, Robbie, and JP. We passed John, who was sprawled on a couch, snoring softly.

“So what was this big discussion you and Ella had with Wally and Clara?” Brad asked Darius as soon as we sat down.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Darius lied.

“I’m talking about the conversation you had when they caught the two of you in bed together,” he said.

“If you knew what the big discussion was about, why did you ask me?” he asked, being a smartass. I saw Robbie and JP stifle guffaws.

“When you’re staying with them, you have to follow their rules,” Robbie asserted.

“I’m sorry. I messed up. We got carried away, and didn’t think about where we were.” Darius was so cool with the way he said it. He put enough sincerity in it to make it seem like he felt a little bad, but the overriding tone was one of logic.

“Do not put your aunt into a tough position by doing this when Ella moves in with them,” Brad admonished. He was pissed off because Darius had actually responded to Robbie, whereas he’d been a smartass to Brad.

“We’ll follow Aunt Claire’s rules,” he said confidently. That was too easy. Claire must have much more lax rules about things like that. It suddenly occurred to me that I was here listening to a guy plotting out his strategy to have sex with my sister. It said a lot about how much I liked Darius that he didn’t get a fist in his face.

“Dude, I do not want to talk about you having sex with my sister,” I said firmly, shutting down the whole conversation.

“Why? You want me all for yourself?” he asked with a leer.

“Nope. I’ve got all I need,” I told him confidently.

“For now,” he said, slightly pissing me off.

“Is that how you are?” I asked.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” he said. Suddenly we’d gone from playful banter, to two alpha males defending their turf.

“Good. You’re too handsome to have a deformed face,” I joked, easing the tension.

“I have something for you,” Brad said. He handed me a bundle of papers.

I looked at a few of the pages and saw legalese on them, and I was too tired to wade through that kind of stuff, so I took the easy way out. “What is it?” I asked.

“It’s a trust,” Brad said. “For you.”

“For me?” I asked curiously. I didn’t know much about trusts. Trusts were for rich people. Kristin probably had one.

“It will pay you $250,000 per year while you’re in school, and then when you turn 25, the balance is yours,” he said factually.

I stared at him, amazed. I doubted that Wally and Clara made much more than that in ten years, at least not after taxes. This was wealth on a scale that was completely foreign to me, and it made me nervous and uncomfortable. “How much is in here?” I asked, wondering how much you’d need to generate that kind of income.

“Six million dollars,” he said.

“You don’t have to do this,” I objected. “Really. That is way too much.”

“You saved my life. You took a bullet for me,” Brad said logically. “I’m a rich man. It’s the least I can do.”

“I agree,” Robbie chimed in as he smiled and glanced momentarily at me. “I think you’re being a tightwad.”

“A tightwad?” Brad demanded. He glared at Robbie, really pissed off.

“Yeah. I think your life is worth way more than that,” Robbie said, as he gazed at him lovingly.

“Dude, this is where they get all lovey-dovey, and it gets gross,” Darius said to me as he got up. I stood up to follow him back to join our girlfriends, and then stopped.

“That was really generous, and very unnecessary,” I told Brad. “But thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. JP just looked at me nervously. I ignored that and went to the back, but I couldn’t figure out his attitude. Was he upset that Brad was giving money away to me? That didn’t seem like something JP would worry about. I let his eyes haunt me until I sank back into my seat and Kristin responded by wrapping herself around me. After everyone dozed off, or pretended to, I led her back to the bathroom and we both joined the mile-high club together.